Recipes

Cherry Berry Ripe, Paleo Delight!

Big kid, or little kid, holidays, or back to school, these mouth watering cherry coconut, chocolate delights are a sweet treat not to feel guilty about!

These chocolate bars are raw, so no baking and takes only minutes to whip up! Not only are they packed full of antioxidants, feel completely indulgent, but are better than the real deal and no refined sugar!

I was in a local shop in Perth last week and found a bag of organic cherries and berries, I had never seen these before and grabbed them. I popped them in the freezer, wondering what to do with them…. I’m still trying to follow the AIP diest as closely as possible but truth is I’m feeling better, and becoming a little slacker. As it’s school holidays here in perth, A little extra time on my hands and the Cherry, Berry Ripe was born, eaten, enjoyed and now had to be shared. There’s most probably lots of similar bards out there on the internet, but I wanted these beauties so quick, a simple recipe was needed to satisfy my cravings. I literally threw all the ingredients in the theme, ( or high speed blender) and hoped them in the freezer, whipped up the chocolate and within 30 mins I was trying to keep busy waiting for the chocolate to set enough to devour them. Bingo! Success and loving these little bites of summer to come.

Ingredients

For the centre;

300s of Mixed Cherries & Berries (frozen or unfrozen – I left out the blueberries, but kept the raspberries)

I used Jo’s raw chocolate from Quirky Cooking. Hit the word chocolate to go to her site.

Ingredients
200g raw cacao butter (eg. Loving Earth Raw Cacao Butter)
50-60g raw cacao powder (or to taste)
100g raw honey or pure maple syrup or rice malt syrup my tooth is less sweet nowadays and I only use 80g)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or natural extract
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
Chop cacao butter roughly with a knife on a chopping board, to approx. 1-2cm cubes. Place cacao butter into mixing bowl. Mill 20 sec/speed 8.
Melt cacao butter for 10 mins/37°/speed 2, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula towards end of cooking time to ensure all the cacao butter is melted.
Add remaining ingredients to mixing bowl and continue cooking 10 mins/37°/speed 1.
Mix chocolate 10 sec/speed 5 to blend honey or syrup in, then pour into lined dish or chocolate molds or onto a tray for a thin chocolate bark.
Place in the freezer immediately to set, as it will separate if you set it at room temperature.

If you haven’t got a Thermomix I have made this using a glass bowl over hot water on the stove and it worked just fine.

Once the cherry mixture is hard, cut into desired sized slices. Pour the chocolate into a mug or cup and using tongs double dipped the cherry ripe slices until covered and place back in the freezer until the chocolate has set. You can store these in an airtight container in the fridge, or I love them straight from the freezer.